NBA Sunday: Miami is Indeed Better

New to the blog will be a twice-monthly look at the NBA. We’ll delve into injuries, news, the business side, fantasy hoops and other NBA entertainment. This Sunday, we debut with our first-ever rankings.
Yes, Miami is No. 1.

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The Hot Five

1. Heat (8-1): With Mario Chalmers improved play and the addition of Shane Battier, Miami is clearly the best. With LeBron James dominating and Dwyane Wade closing, the Heat is even tougher.

2. Thunder (7-2): This team will go as far as Russell Westbrook will allow Kevin Durant to carry it. If Westbrook matures and plays under control, Oklahoma City is dangerous.

3. Bulls (7-2): Still need a reliable second scorer. If Rip Hamilton proves to be that guy, watch out. If not, Chicago needs to get one by trade deadline.

5. Spurs (6-2): The loss of Manu Ginobili hurt. He was playing at an All-NBA First team level. Somehow, San Antonio manages to keep winning.

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Serious contenders

6. Pacers (6-3): Not sure how long it will last, but Indiana is contending for Central Division crown. The Danny Granger-Roy Hibbert tandem is bolstered by nice depth. Seven guys averaging double-digits.

7. Hawks (6-2): Wins over Miami and Chicago shows Atlanta is still in the mix. Losses to Houston and Miami sans James and Wade shows they’ve got work to do.

8. Blazers (5-2): Adding Jamal Crawford gives them a closer to replace Brandon Roy. But it looks like Marcus Camby may finally be slowing down.

9. Magic (5-3): Cal-product Ryan Anderson has emerged as much needed help for Dwight Howard. But he isn’t nearly the Robin that Howard was looking for.

10. Celtics (4-4): At 1-3 on the road, Boston is either biding time or showing signs of aging. Probably both. Still will be there in the end.

Playoff filler

11. Knicks (4-4): New York has a lot of (individual) talent. But the fact the Knicks are banking on Baron Davis coming back healthy is cause for concern.

12. Cavaliers (4-3): Rookie PG Kyrie Irving is showing he was worthy of the No. 1 pick. Byron Scott has these boys playing some defense, too.

13. Clippers (4-2): Eventually, they will put together some victories. If not, be ready for the Vinny Del Negro replacement rumors.

24. Rockets (2-6): SG Kevin Martin is averaging 3.4 free throw attempts per game. Last season, he averaged 8.4 attempts. Is that a sign he’s checked out, still smarting over having to play for the team that traded him?

25. Warriors (2-6): Playoffs were wishful thinking to begin with. Injuries are killing those wishes, if they aren’t extinct already.

“You can’t keep having me pick-and-pop and shooting jump shots. Give me the ball in the paint. That’s where I’m most effective at. I’ve been saying that since training camp: I need the ball in the paint. I don’t want to be the pick-and-pop guy that I used to be. It’s not working for me.”

Rookie SG MarShon Brooks (left) has become instant offense off the Nets off the bench.

Team: New Jersey Nets

Age: 22

Ht/Wt: 6-foot-5, 200 pounds

College: Providence

Drafted No. 25 overall by Boston, Brooks was traded to New Jersey. He’s averaging 14.8 points in 23.3 minutes off the bench. He’s shooting 45.8 percent and he came up big against good teams. He scored 21 at Atlanta, and 21 against the visiting Pacers (with seven rebounds).

Quietly, Under Armor has put together a starting five for its basketball line. Fittingly, the company has pegged some up-and-comers to endorse its brand, which is trying to become a force in the industry.

In mid-December, Under Armor announced a partnership with the NBA that will allow their endorsers to wear NBA licensed products in their promotions (i.e., Brandon Jennings can wear a Bucks jersey in his Under Armor commercial). About a week later, the company announced it had signed Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan to a multi-year deal. Jordan joins Milwaukee’s Brandon Jennings, New Orleans’ Greivis Vasquez, Charlotte’s Kemba Walker and Minnesota’s Derrick Williams.

Marcus Thompson

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Nice post!! Warriors should be lowered to lottery hopefuls. Nuggets deserve more love, that team is DEEEEP.

Harp’s Dubs

Without a healthy back-up PG in Eric Maynor, there’s no way the Thunder trade Westbrook for Curry now.
Jameer Nelson’s looking bad? How about trading Curry, Thompson, Kwame (contract expires at end of year), Udoh and Dorell (I forgot to how ot play basketball this summer) Wright to Orlando for Dwight Howard and Chris Duhon. Yes, that strips us of young talent, but that’s what it’s gonna take to get Superman, plus it gives us a relaible, veteran PG and takes Duhon’s contract off Orlando’s books as well.
From there, it would be up to management to do whatever it took to keep him here.
My first call would be to Atlanta to see if we could get Dwight’s best friend, Josh Smith to join us. David Lee for Josh Smith? Horford and Lee would be a nice tandem – very different, but complementary games. It would allow Horford to play the 4 while Lee plays the 5 against smaller teams, much like he did when he was an all-star in NY. They’d be interchangeable at the 4/5 position. Plus, without Howard and Perkins, what great centers would even be left in the East?

I think Howard would like playing with Smith and Monta and might be inclined to stay if he could convince Deron Williams to come to the Bay this summer…

AP

harps dubs. quit playing fantasy basketball. josh smith for david lee?? if i was the hawks id even be weary of ellis for smith and we know how much better ellis is than lee.

Mick

I visit the blog regularly and this post is a nice change of pace. Considering how bad the Warriors look now and for the future, maybe its a good idea to involve more NBA news. I really believe we need to tank the season, we just can’t get another mediocre pick. This upcoming draft is top-5 special. Also, how do you feel now about us drafting Udoh over Monroe??? Monroe is no star, but he’s a starter who plays heavy minutes. Udoh is a rotation player at best. Finally is their any truth to us going after Dwight Howard??? I just don’t think we have pieces….on the flip side Otis Smith is no genius. Your take please.

Yoda

Don’t worry Mick, there’s not much chance of getting a mediocre pick. It’s either top seven or Utah gets it. Of course the great Marcus Williams was worth all the heartache that one caused.

John Starks

Mediocre teams are those that are one game on either side of .500. With less than 10 games played in the season so far, any team with more than 1 loss cannot be better than .400, which would have to be considered lottery-bound. Frankly, if a team is that far below .500 after less than (only) 10 games, they are definitely NOT even mediocre.

Warriors should be lottery hopefuls as of today. What makes the Warriors (as of today’s record at 2-6) any more or less likely to be lottery bound than Bobcats, Pistons or Hornets who have the exact same W-L records? The Bucks, TWolves and Rockets should also be lottery hopefuls.

John Starks

CORRECTION; any team that is .500 cannot take another loss, which would mean they couldn’t be better than .400.

robert rowell

mediocre, really MT2? c’mon, man. we both know 2-6 after the schedule the W’s just played was possibly the WORSE outcome they could’ve had. with no real answers at PG this team is most certainly lottery bound.

brandonbeard

We should have kept Keith Smart! he id a great job, now we have to again start all over with Coach Jackson, who by the way isnt doing a bad job, but its the same old thing, give up leads in the fourth quarter. Our teams looks tired in the fourth, and other teams look energized! Like they know we going to blow it!